Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I love when the weather is nice. I get restless when I’m inside for too long – even when I’m lost in a good book…and I’ve been lost in some really good books lately.


We checked out Latta Plantation this past weekend because we thought you could rent kayaks there. Apparently you can rent canoes, but only after Memorial Day. This is something I’ve found weird since I moved. I know in Florida the weather is nice almost all of the time so it doesn’t always make sense to close, but North Carolina isn’t that far north! So I find it odd that a lot of outdoor things follow the Memorial Day to Labor Day schedule. Regardless, we hit up some of the trails and it was very pretty.


Don’t worry, I know a summary of my weekend is not why you’re here.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars


I really adore a good cookie bar. Not only are they less time consuming to make, but you can decide what kind of cookie you want. Do you want an edge? Or do you want a middle? You really could have several cookies and they would taste slightly different. It’s just amazing. I wasn’t quite sure what kind of cookie bar I wanted to throw together. So what did I do? You guessed it. Pinterest for the win. I landed on a recipe from A Spicy Perspective.


Definitely try them out. They were a huge hit at work and a complete win in my book. They are also really nice warmed up with a little Ben & Jerry’s on the top. Yum. My mouth is watering.

What you need:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 10 oz soft caramels, unwrapped
  • Flaked sea salt (the recipe in the link says how much – I just guesstimated)

What to do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 baking dish with foil. Spray with a TON of nonstick cooking spray. The caramel will really stick when it oozes out.
  2. Beat the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy – approx. 2 minutes
  3. Add the eggs, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Mix well and then scrape the sides.
  4. Turn the speed to low and add the flour. Once combined, mix in the chocolate chips.
  5. Press half the cookie dough into the bottom of the dish.
  6. In a medium sauce pot, add the sweetened condensed milk and unwrapped caramels. Set overall medium-low heat and stir until the caramels melt. I took this very literally because I’ve done this and burnt the caramel before. So stir, stir, stir!
  7. Pour the filling over the cookie dough base.
  8. Drop the remaining cookie dough over the caramel filling in small teaspoons.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
  10. Sprinkle sea salt flakes and allow the bars to cool. This took a while. When you think it’s cool it’s probably not. So be patient. It’s really messy if you’re not. Also, if you can’t find sea salt flakes – I bought mine on target.com and received free shipping since I’m a red member.
  11. ENJOY!!

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